this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. thousands of students across the uk are forced to self—isolate due to coronavirus outbreaks — the labour party calls on the government to promise students will be able to go home for christmas. stu d e nts students have been done over on their a—levels. they have been done over on freshers week. the government is now threatening to lock them up at university. and, very worrying for them, when they graduate they may be looking at long—term youth unemployment. as senior political figures mark national police memorial day in the uk, britain's top police official pays tribute to the sergeant shot in south london on friday. if some good can come out of this

terrible incident, it would be that more people understand a little bit about the challenges of police work and see us police for who we are. there's been heavy fighting between armenian and azerbaijani forces in the disputed nagorno—karabakh region — with a number of casualties on both sides. president trump nominates the conservative judge amy coney barrett to fill the vacant seat on the us supreme court. and sir david attenborough attends a private viewing of his new documentary at kensington palace, hosted by the duke of cambridge. hello and welcome, if you're watching in the uk or around the world — and stay with us for the latest news and analysis

from here and across the globe. thousands of students across the uk are being forced to self—isolate after a rise in coronavirus infections. the health secretary for england, matt hancock, has refused to rule out a ban on students returning home for the christmas holidays. the government says it's monitoring the situation closely. the bbc‘s political correspondent jonathan blake has more. it has been a hard start to university life for many this year. confirmed cases of coronavirus have meant many students are confined to their accommodation. there is a social side of university along with the educational side, and we are completely stuck here. so there's no freshers‘ week, no interacting with other people. all we have is online lectures. and i've been looking forward to moving here for years. i've worked very hard to get where i am. and... it's very annoying that, um... i just feel completely

neglected, i guess. in england, labour claims the government should have seen this coming, and has accused ministers of not doing enough to prepare. cases are rising, they say, and the situation is critical, warning it must not be allowed to continue unchecked. the shadow education secretary, kate green, has written to gavin williamson, saying he should consider delaying the start of term or pausing the arrival of students to allow improvements in testing capacity and remote learning. with little warning before they were asked to isolate, some students are worried about getting supplies. as for staying put over christmas, which the government hasn't ruled out, labour say that would be unthinkable. it's really difficult. i'm personally from near london, so my family is really, really far away. so it's not like they can just come and see me through the gate. we didn't have time to go to the food shops before security came in, so it's put us in a really,

really difficult situation. and just the lack of knowing what's going on, really, it's difficult. the department for education said it was monitoring the situation very closely and working with universities to ensure they were well prepared for the return of students, who the government says should follow the latest health advice just like the wider public. jonathan blake, bbc news. professor mark woolhouse, an epidemiologist at the university of edinburgh, told the andrew marr show that scientists had modelled the effect of students returning to university. this situation, i'm afraid, has been entirely predictable. i mean, the first thing to say is students didn't start this current phase of the epidemic. this began way back in august in scotland, the rest of the uk. and the students just got caught up in it. now, because university involves students coming in from many different parts of the country, and congregating in very close proximity, then it's inevitable

there is going to be some spread among the student population. and that's what we are seeing. there was some very nice modelling done of this, by our colleagues at the university of bristol. and what they showed quite clearly was that the risk areas were particularly first—year students in halls of residence, as well as face—to—face teaching. so this was very predictable, and it was modelled. earlier i spoke to jessica parker — who said the question about whether students will be able to come home for christmas is something the government are being urged to consider. students, some of them going away, leaving home for the first time and then arriving on campuses. there are cases of them having to self—isolate in their halls for two weeks. they are not getting the face—to—face teaching time, for obvious reasons that you would expect in normal circumstances because of coronavirus. so now there is a discussion about what should be done. should students get some sort of discount, for example? does there need to be more testing on campuses? and, as well, this issue over

what happens at christmas. matt hancock, the health secretary, earlier this week, not ruling out the possibility that students could be told not to go home. i'm not saying it is what the government wanted to do. there is a concern about passing the virus from generation to generation. but labour are very critical of the government's approach. the shadowjustice secretary, david lammy, has been speaking to the andrew marr show this morning. students have been done over on their a—levels, they have been done over on freshers' week. the government is now threatening to lock them up at university and, very worrying for them, when they graduate, they may be looking at long—term youth unemployment. it is important to get the students the kit so they can do their lessons virtually. universities have been doing loads to plan for their students, many are offering tests. they need support from the government. gavin williamson needs to come to the house tomorrow and explain what he is going to do to make sure that our young people can receive their education

and virtually, probably, for many of them, and they can get the testing that they now deserve. david lammy, there, for labour. so, what have the government been saying about this? well, the government says it is monitoring the situation closely. i think it will be quite interesting to see whether gavin williamson, the education secretary, does end up coming to the house at some point this week. you heard labour calling for it there. the chair of the education select committee, the conservative mp robert halfon has tweeted he would like to hear a statement as well from the government as to what will happen next. it's worth pointing out it is a devolved issue. so, as well, people might want to hear from respective ministers in scotland, wales and northern ireland. but here is what the culture secretary, oliver dowden, had to say this morning. well, clearly, the experience is not as it would be, given this crisis. but we are doing that in order to reduce the spread of the disease and enable them to go back at all. and i think it's important for students not to have to give up a year of their life by not going to university. and they are going to university, and paying the fees accordingly.

i think to what extent this issue becomes even more highly charged will depend on whether we keep seeing more and more students heading to university, having to self—isolate, questioning, in some cases, whether they are getting value for money. so, i think this issue could run on into the next few weeks. let's speak now tojonny butler — a first year student at leeds beckett university. thanks for being with us. just tell us thanks for being with us. just tell us about your situation at the moment. 50, everything us about your situation at the moment. so, everything here in leeds,in moment. so, everything here in leeds, in my holes and around me, seems fine right now. obviously leeds went into local lockdown on friday, and looking at the news, looking at reports from manchester, from glasgow and around the country, it is frightening to think that at any moment we could be next. our building could be next, we could be told we are not allowed to go anywhere, we are not allowed to go home. that could extend to christmas, is people have been saying. that is a possibility that the government say they can't rule out, that he wouldn't be able to go

home for christmas. what do you think of that? i think it is hyperbolic and not the kind of message that we need to be hearing at the moment. i mean, did you think about just not at the moment. i mean, did you think aboutjust not going to university this year? it's a very, very different experience, a pretty miserable experience in many ways?|j actually miserable experience in many ways?” actually took a year out, last year. and so i didn't see it really is an option, to take another year out. i've been excited to university and excited to start at leeds back it, everything they have been saying about blended learning sounds really awesome. everything here sounds great, i'm just worried that if my brother gets knocked down, we won't get together. from a work point of view, can you go to seminars and lectures, or will it all be online? the course i am on is fairly practical. so, there will be some teaching that will be done online, especially large groupings. but there will be smaller, face—to—face

groups, pending any changes with coronavirus. what some students are saying is that they want some of their money back. that it's not the same university experience as you would normally expect, either in terms of learning all the social aspects of it. yeah, this is absolutely understandable. i can com pletely absolutely understandable. i can completely relate to people who are calling for that. but i remain pretty excited to start with the stuff that has been shown to me, and what i am being told i'm being able to do. my concern is if it is going to do. my concern is if it is going to change. the social side is obviously very different from how it would normally be. i mean, there aren't going to be parties. or maybe there are, but they are not allowed. there definitely are! so what do you make of all of that? it's just not going to be what you signed up to. well, again, ithink going to be what you signed up to. well, again, i think i was really lucky that i got to go to the freshers fair last week. that was a really awesome opportunity. very and

com pletely really awesome opportunity. very and completely covid safe. i managed to meet some very nice people there and make some connections. but it is very worrying and frustrating that, for many people come in many places, it will be even more difficult. all right, i hope it goes really well for you. stay safe. johnny butler, first—year student at leeds beckett. the home secretary, the commissioner of the metrpolitan police and mayor of london have attended a wreath laying ceremony in stjames' park to mark police memorial day. the event is to remember all officers who've died on duty and comes just two days after the murder of sergeant matt ratana in croydon. met police commissioner cressida dick paid tribute to sergeant rata na. matt was an extraordinary person. a real la rger—than—life character. so many people knew him in the police. he was a response officer,

a neighbourhood officer. he worked on public order operations. i used to see him there. and he had a wonderful personality. and he was very good at his job. he was very helpful, he was kind, he was friendly. what i perhaps didn't know quite so much was about his work in the communities. people in croydon and hackney, for example, they remember him so fondly as a really good police officer who could be very firm, and certainly was very good at investigating crime, arresting people and dealing with anti—social behaviour and that kind of thing. but also was involved in supporting people, and helping young people get away from crime. a really rounded character. and then he was a truly great sportsmen, and a leader in sports. so, sport, of course, takes you into all sorts of wider worlds. and, you know, he was a kiwi, a proud kiwi. but he lived in london all his life.

he worked in london all his life, played sport all over the place. he led sport as a coach and a captain. notjust rugby, he was a very good tennis player. so, those worlds, the sporting worlds and the london community world, perhaps i didn't know so much about. but is a police officer, so many people knew how good he was. he is going to be sorely, sorely missed. finally, it is police memorial day, and we are remembering the officers who have been lost. the police are under a lot of pressure at the moment, and they are bearing a lot of the pressure. is there anything we need to be thinking about, just generally, about improving the safety that they have when they do theirjobs? so, policing is a profession in which people expect to put themselves in front of other people. they see that as their duty.

to protect people and to help people. and to, on a daily basis, respond to completely unknown situations and assess risks, and manage that risk. and i think the main thing i would say is, if some good can come out of this terrible incident, in which we have had one of our officers murdered, it would be that more people understand a little bit about the challenges of police work, and see us police for who we are. you know, human beings who go to work to help people, to support people and to protect people. and matt was the epitome of that. civilians have been killed and injured during heavy fighting between armenian and azerbaijani forces in the disputed nagorno—karabakh region.

armenian troops have destroyed three tanks and accused azerbaijan of first launching an attack on civilian settlements. the president of the nagorno—karabakh region, which is mainly inhabited by ethnic armenians, has declared martial law. the two countries have been in conflict over the area for decades. tural ahmedzade at bbc world service joins me from london. just start off by explaining the significance of the dispute, and what is at the heart of this dispute over nagorno—karabakh. what is at the heart of this dispute over nagorno-karabakh. well, the fighting, the war itself began with the break—up of the soviet union. armenia and azerbaijan were part of the soviet union. the war has not ended. there was a cessation of hostilities and a ceasefire in 1994, and the conflict was, for a large part, not frozen, but it wasn't

full—blown war. for years now, attention has been building up. there was some hope, with the election of the prime minister in armenia, but those hopes seemed to be dashed. this fighting is by far the most serious we have seen since the most serious we have seen since the ceasefire. or it has the potential to be. in 2016, there were clashes in april that resulted in the deaths of 200 soldiers from both sides. but this, the fighting now, appears to be taking place across a far bigger geographic area, and the volume of reporting coming from the front line appears to suggest that this could develop into something far more serious. you mentioned that the local government, nagorno—karabakh, declared the local government, nagorno—kara bakh, declared martial law. just recently, the armenian government has also declared martial law and full mobilisation. that

means anybody above the age of 18 could be called in to fight. so it is very serious indeed. the russian authorities have called for a cessation of all of the fighting. along with turkey, they are the most influential regional actors. turkey, on the other hand, has declared full support for azerbaijan. which also blames armenia for starting the fighting, but, you know, both sides blame each other for that. i can go as you say, for many years there has been real tension between armenia and azerbaijan. as you say, could this escalate militarily? could we be looking at a more intense and wider conflict between these two soviet republics? indeed, there is a real chance of this happening. when the ceasefire was signed in 1994, you know, hundreds of thousands of refugees and internally displaced people were left stranded in armenia

and azerbaijan. so, a huge number of people affected by this. there was a lot of tension. injuly, tensions began to increase. more than a dozen people were killed in fighting, including a civilian in azerbaijan and a general. that led to the largest popular protests, demonstrations and azerbaijan, with crowds calling on the government to reca ptu re crowds calling on the government to recapture all of its lost territories. as a result of the fighting and 94, azerbaijan had lost control over the disputed territory of nagorno—karabakh, and a number of other territories around it. so, it isa other territories around it. so, it is a conflict that affects a great deal of people in both countries. and for azerbaijan, it is a significant development, in that the recent reports i am just reading now suggest that they have recaptured

several villages and positions. these have been confirmed by authorities in nagorno—karabakh, the disputed territory. so, it does indeed seem to be quite significant. thank you so much for updating us. president trump has picked a conservativejudge — amy coney barrett — as his nominee to fill the supreme court seat left vacant by the death of the liberaljudge, ruth bader ginsburg. the decision has been condemned by democrats who say he is trying to force through a judge who would help to destroy public healthcare and abortion rights. donald trump's presidential rival, joe biden, says the senate shouldn't vote on the matter until after november's election. ifjudge barrett is confirmed, conservative—leaning justices will hold a 6 to 3 majority on america's highest court. nomia iqbal reports. inside a packed rose garden, president trump confirmed who wants to see replacejustice ginsburg. todayit today it is my honour to nominate

one of our nation's most gifted legal minds to the spring court. she isa legal minds to the spring court. she is a woman of apparel to treatment, towering intellect, sterling credentials and yielding loyalty to the constitution. judge amy coney barrett. applause the nomination was no surprise. she had been linked to the seat made va ca nt had been linked to the seat made vacant in 2016 when conservative justice killylea died. with a few words, she made it clear what to expect from a potentialjustice barrett. i clicked for him many yea rs barrett. i clicked for him many years ago. at his judicial philosophy is mine, too. that is what worries liberals. she is described as a devout catholic, who in 2013 said that life begins at conception. it makes her a favourite

among religious conservatives, keen to overturn the supreme court decision that legalised abortion nationwide. she has taken conservative positions as a judge on the court of appeals, and gun rights, immigration and health care. but she sought to reassure those who we re but she sought to reassure those who were critical of her. if confirmed, i would not assume that role for the sake of those in my own circle, and certainly not for my own sake. i would assume this role to serve you. i would discharge the judicial oath which requires me to administer justice without respect to persons, equal rights to the poor and rich. democrats don't want this to happen during the election, the same way that the republican stopped them in 2016. in a statement, joe biden focused on concern over health care. he said the senate should not act on the vacancy until after the american people select their next president. long after the controversy is over

and long after many who watched the ceremony have retired or even gone, amy coney barrett will be on the us's highest court, with herfellow conservative justices, making decisions about how americans live their lives. that is why this pic is considered one of the most important decisions of donald trump's presidency. after the announcement, he spoke before flying to a rally in the key battle ground state of pennsylvania. i think it is going to go quickly, i hope. buti pennsylvania. i think it is going to go quickly, i hope. but i think she has a great future. when the professor at notre dame, one of the most highly respected, said the best news he has ever had, that mean something. the first in her class, and all of that. so, it's a great honour. president trump knows delivering a third conservative judge on the bench is something his conservatives —— support as one. she will be questioned by democrats and republicans in a series of hearings.

0nly republicans in a series of hearings. only 51 republican senators are needed to confirm her to the bench, and right now the party has the numbers. to the political crisis in belarus — and the french president, emmanuel macron, has said president lukashenko must step down. mr macron praised the protesters who have taken part in rallies every weekend since the disputed election in august. the belarusian foreign minister has accused western countries of trying to sow anarchy. 0ur correspondent in minsk, jonah fisher, analyses if president macron's comments were likely to have any impact. it might make the demonstrators feel better about themselves when they go on protest today, but in terms of the big picture in belarus, which we have seen for the last seven weeks since this disputed election, it changes very little. we still have large demonstrations taking place here, particularly at the weekend. there was going to be another very big one, we expect, this afternoon.

but president lukashenko, the man who claimed victory in that disputed election in early august, shows no sign of either stepping down or being willing to open negotiations with any of the opposition figures who have emerged over the last several months. so, we have this effective impasse. president lukashenko seems to have the support of the security forces, of the military. he inaugurated himself earlier this week to begin a sixth term in office. the opposition, the demonstrators, they seem to be able to come out in very large numbers when they want to. we will probably see that again today. at the moment, there is no real strategy on the pa rt there is no real strategy on the part of the opposition as to how they are going to translate that control of the streets, that huge crowd they are getting up demonstrations, into actualfurther pressure and further efforts to actually get president lukashenko to think about a seriously stepping down. swiss voters will decide today whether to keep their free movement of people agreement

with the european union. those wanting to ditch it say the move will allow switzerland to control its borders and select only the immigrants it wants, while those in favour of keeping the treaty argue losing it will plunge a healthy economy into recession, and deprive swiss citizens of their freedom to live and work across europe. sir david attenborough has visited kensington palace for a private viewing of his new documentary with the duke of cambridge. prince william and the veteran broadcaster sat together to watch the programme "a life on our planet". sir david has been speaking to bbc breakfast. i've been making television programmes, and certainly for the last 20 or 30 years i've ended each of them by saying, "look, the world is in peril, look, we're damaging it, and it's all our, humanity's, fault. " and very little has happened. and yet suddenly within the last five years, maybe, suddenly it's as though people have woken up. and its young people, really, young people who have shaken our consciences, and not before time.

now, it's time for a look at the weather. hello. it's another day of very mixed fortunes across the uk today. for some of us, plenty of sunshine around but there is more cloud around eastern counties of england in particular, with a brisk northerly winds around here. for scotland into the afternoon, cloud is tending to burn back towards the aberdeenshire coast. still quite gusty in the north and east, but for much of scotland lighter winds and after that very cold start, some sunshine this afternoon. northern ireland and north west england also seeing dry and bright conditions which continue into wales, too. but look at those gusts of wind. 50mph for the likes of lincolnshire and east anglia, with a few drizzly showers. into this evening and overnight, the winds in east eventually start to ease away. we have more cloud and rain working

in from the north—west. not as cold here as it was last night but still down into single figures for many of us first thing on monday morning. monday sees this band of patchy cloud working its way slowly eastwards but a much improved day for east anglia and the south—east. not as windy and temperatures between 14 and 19 celsius.

hello, this is bbc news. the headlines: as thousands of students across the uk are forced to self—isolate due to coronavirus outbreaks, the labour party calls on the government to promise students will be able to go home for christmas. as senior political figures mark national police memorial day in the uk, britain's top police official has paid tribute to the sergeant shot in south london on friday. president trump has nominated the conservative judge, amy coney barrett, to fill the vacant seat on the us supreme court.

armenia has mobilised its male population and declared martial law as violence continues between the former soviet nation and its neighbour azerbaijan. now, on bbc news, it's time for dateline london. a hello, i'm shaun ley. welcome to the programme which brings together some of the uk's leading political commentators, bbc specialists, and the foreign correspondents who file their stories under the dateline london. this week, new pandemic restrictions in the uk as a sharp rise in infection heralds what borisjohnson says will be a difficult six months.

in the us, donald trump hogs the headlines again, this time by suggesting he might not abide by the result if he doesn't like it. see you in the supreme court, mr president? well, in the words of rowan and martin's laugh—in, "here comes thejudge". judging the week's events for dateline london, two podcasters — steve richards of rock n roll politics, and michael goldfarb of frdh — the first rough draft of history. and here in the studio, his hands sanitised but certainly not hisjournalism, mark urban, diplomatic editor with the bbc‘s newsnight programme. hello. and to both of you, michael and steve. good to have you back with us. we are going to begin with, of course, coronavirus. just as it's shaken up every aspect of daily life, so the pandemic has disrupted the pattern of british politics. the conservatives, the "party of business", instinctively sceptical of the state and, in the 2010s, champion of austerity, had, at one point this summer, half the nation on the government payroll. labour, traditionally more comfortable with spending taxpayers'